2018 Ambassadors from BU Share Experiences with Campus

In mid-October the Boston University Ambassadors Award recipients hosted a round table discussion to share their experiences at the 2018 Vernacular Architecture Forum conference along the Potomac. Aaron Ahlstrom gave a brief overview of Vernacular Architecture as a field of study along with an introduction to VAF as an organization. Sam Palfreyman spoke about his longer participation with the conferences, explaining their structure and the opportunities he's gained from being introduced to the affiliated scholars and scholarship. Casey Monroe discussed the Thursday bus tours and shared his perspective as an art history graduate student who has been newly exposed to vernacular architecture. Maddie Webster talked about the Friday walking tours and the paper sessions on Saturday, demonstrating the variety of topics that fall under the VAF umbrella. Finally, Rachel Kirby spoke about the interdisciplinary nature of the conference and the fundamental attention not just to buildings but to the people who enliven them. The talk was attended by undergraduate and graduate students in the History of Art and Architecture and American & New England Studies Program, and we do hope we sparked some curiosity about VAF within our fellow students here in Boston.